You don't have to be a member to go on a trip. Try out the club before you join! Non members pay a slightly higher fee, just $10 more for overnight trips. If it is a one day trip or a social event there is no charge.

The club owns a 12-passenger van for travel to many of our trip destinations. The club provides cooking gear, water purifiers, and tents. Morning & evening meals are included in the price of the trip. Lunches are generally on your own.

A trip leader (who is a club member with experience) plans and makes arrangements for the trip. He or she purchases the food for meals and plans breakfasts and dinners. For all of his/her hard work, the trip leader pays nothing for the trip. This is a great reason to volunteer to lead a trip. A co-leader also helps the trip leader and goes on the trip for a lower rate.

Trip participants are expected to help with chores such as setting up camp, cooking and cleaning up. Driving the van is done by trip leader, co-leader and/or trip participants. Sharing the driving really helps on long trips.

Most trips are limited to small groups that can fit with all the gear in the club van. Popular destinations fill up early so don't wait to sign up. The trip coordinator maintains a stand-by list of alternates after trips fill up in case someone ops out prior to departure. The trip coordinator accepts sign ups in the order of the mail postmark cancellation dates.

To be "signed up" for a trip, CIWC must have payment in hand. The trip coordinator cannot hold a spot for you without payment ("in the mail" doesn't count).

Please understand that many club trips require good physical (and mental) conditioning. Please do not sign up for more than you are capable of performing as this could pose a risk not only to yourself but also to other group members going on these kinds of trips. All participants on these kinds of trips will be required to sign a waver of liability form. Most of our overnight trips fall into this category. While children are not excluded from most trips, please contact the trip leaded prior to signing up if they can attend. If you are new to this kind of adventure travel and want to try it, please check out the trips aimed for beginners. If you have any specific questions, please ask the trip leader or any of the board members.

To sign up for a trip, confirm that you are on a trip, or cancel your participation in a trip:

Send payment in the form of a check or money order to CIWC, PO Box 44351, Indianapolis, IN 46244. Make your check out to Central Indiana Wilderness Club. Some trips are to be paid in full; others only require a deposit to sign up. The balance of the trip fee is due by the cancellation date. If not paid in full by the cancellation date, the club reserves the right to give your spot to the first one on the wait list that has paid in full.

IMPORTANT: Write on the check which trip the check is for and include your email address and phone number. The trip leader may need to contact you prior to departure.

The Trip Coordinator keeps the list of participants and a waiting list to inform trip leaders about sign ups and cancellations.

The Trip Coordinator will contact you when CIWC receives your check. Feel free to contact the Trip Coordinator if you need to confirm that you are on a trip, on the waiting list or if you need to cancel.

If you cancel within a few days of the trip you should also contact the Trip Leader. If you cancel please do so prior to the cancellation date of the trip to insure that you will receive a full refund. Cancellation after the cancellation date may result in loss of all or part of your deposit depending on the status of any lodging or outfitter fees involved.

The Treasurer can provide you with information about your account balance.

If you have specific questions about a trip, contact the Trip Leader for the specific trip you are interested in.

To download a trip proposal form, go to our Forms page.

For more information, see our Trip Policy.